# April ToM: McLelland Dark Star



## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

Place your reviews here for the April Tobacco of the Month.
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## tzilt (Nov 20, 2007)

Dark Star is aptly named, at least the 'dark' part. It is a flake tobacco. The flakes are nearly black, and quite gooey. It smells dark, spicy, vinegar-y, tobacco-y.

The tin says:

_This tobacco begins as Bright Yellow, sugary top grade Virginia and Carolina leaf. Through careful triple aging, pressing and stoving, it becomes rich, cool and dark. A spicy aroma._

Since it is a pretty moist flake, it can use some drying. The last time I smoked a bowl I was impatient and paid the price.

This stuff tastes great. It is nice and spicy but not in a sharp way. Like an fancy bottle of balsamic vinegar. That being said, the spicy vinegary flavor is easy to miss, so if your palate was recently bombarded with strong food or drink, this one might slip by unnoticed and it will just taste like virginia.

The room note is nice. Pleasant enough that open-minded non-smokers will find it interesting. But its not so sweet that anyone will mistake it for incense.

I don't really notice a change through-out the bowl. It seems consistent from start to finish.

After finishing this tin I will definitely be getting some more.


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## Slow Triathlete (Jun 14, 2007)

I think that this stuff biting and being too wet is the general consensus for everyone who has smoked this. Does anyone have a sample that I can trade for?


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## hollywood (Feb 15, 2005)

Holy cow. This is definitely too moist right out of the tin. I think I'm going to load a big bowl and leave it out until late tonight. Smells really good though. Just what I need ... another blend I may want to stock up on.:hn


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## tzilt (Nov 20, 2007)

Dangit where are all the reviews? 

I got 2 samples worth of Dark Star for anyone who wants to review it. Pm me.


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## Alyks (Jun 2, 2007)

I have 2oz of 2035 sitting in a jar which I have to try still. I've read somewhere 2035 is the bulk version of Dark Star. Can anyone confirm?


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## Silky01 (Jul 16, 2007)

tzilt said:


> Dangit where are all the reviews?
> 
> I got 2 samples worth of Dark Star for anyone who wants to review it. Pm me.


PM sent for one sample.


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## tzilt (Nov 20, 2007)

uncballzer said:


> PM sent for one sample.


Good deal. It will go out Monday morning. I got enough for one more sample. Any takers?


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## perogee (Feb 29, 2008)

My :2

When I opened the tin, I was immediately taken by this blend. It has a wonderful aroma and looks just incredibly cool in the tin, all dark and moist. Like has already been mentioned, it definitely takes some drying out before you can even think about smoking this one.
I have tried a few bowls of it now, so I figured I would write my impressions. My first impressions are dissapointment, to be bluntly honest. The tin aromas. looks and feels of the tobacco really had me excited, but I found that it did not come across with actual flavour. The room notes are great and it burns fairly well (I only needed a few relights, but I may have not given it quite enough drying time), but I just find it somewhat flat for flavours.
Personally, I have decided to cellar it for awhile and have vacuumed sealed it. Perhaps I will enjoy it more with some age on it. For now, I will stick with 965 as my go to.

Like I said, just my :2

Robert


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## MarkinCA (Jun 13, 2007)

tzilt said:


> Good deal. It will go out Monday morning. I got enough for one more sample. Any takers?


Hey chestbeater, I'll take you up on that last sample. PM sent...:tu


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## Sawyer (Jul 11, 2007)

tzilt said:


> Dangit where are all the reviews?
> 
> I got 2 samples worth of Dark Star for anyone who wants to review it. Pm me.


I wasn't impressed with my first bowl so I haven't revisited it. I plan on doing so sometime soon so I can give a proper review.


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## Silky01 (Jul 16, 2007)

tzilt said:


> Dangit where are all the reviews?
> 
> I got 2 samples worth of Dark Star for anyone who wants to review it. Pm me.


Got it in the mail yesterday, so I'll try to light up a bowl of it today or tomorrow.


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## SR Mike (Feb 4, 2008)

This tobacco is Virginia and Carolina leaf, dark dark black color with a touch of tan here and there, looks to be very oily. Reading the description of this, McClelland ages this tobacco for 3 years before selling, well this tobacco was gifted to me by IHT with a date of 2000. So I need to note that this probably does not taste the same as a fresh open tin.

The aroma is pungent, and hits the sinuses with a tingle. The tobacco is in flake form, it crumbles easily as I prepare it for my pipe. Normally with flake I do a little folding and packing, crumble the top to get it lit, but for this review I am rubbing out the flakes. 

For me, the tobacco is a bit more difficult to light with it rubbed out, I got it going though. This burns warm for the start, the smoke is clean and light, but abundant. 

First this I was presented with was a vinegar and hickory. For some reason I really did the vinegar taste, I like pickles and I like Zots candy, so what can I say? Into the bowl the taste was still sour and picking up some leather tones. The smoke was consistent throughout the bowl, light and clean with a bit of citrus in the background.

There was not a lot of complexity or flavor changes, the smoke developed a woody taste and it seemed like fermented berries were hiding in the background, kind of like a liquor touch. This tobacco burns warm, never getting too hot, the flavor was still sharp and at times a sweetness tried to emerge but was never able to come to the front of the flavor profiles.

The aftertaste is very woody, it is not overbearing on the senses. The aroma this tobacco produced is like burning berries, kind of sweet with a touch of a charred scent. 

My final thoughts. I really enjoy this tobacco, I have just enough for one more bowl and then it is gone, I need to purchase a couple of tins to keep around. This tobacco burns warm, doesn't bite, the smoke is smooth and clean. I find this burns easier if the flakes are not rubbed out. I would say this is an acquired taste and I will have to make sure I always have some on hand. I cannot wait to try a fresh batch too. This is a medium Body and mild strength tobacco.

Thanks IHT!!!


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## CigarGal (Jun 2, 2006)

Tzilt sent me a sample of this so I will give it a go tonight and post a review.


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## CigarGal (Jun 2, 2006)

This stuff is beyond dark! After stuffing some flakes in a bowl I was left with dark stains on my fingertips. My sample has been across country in a baggie and it was still mucho moist. I had to light it a few times before I got it going. The flavor was very good, nice and sweet and the aroma was nice as well. Half way through the bowl it started to gurgle so I put it down. I will go back in a bit with a pipe cleaner and try to finish the bowl.

I loved the flavor but it was a bit messy to pack and get lit. If I had more I think I would let it sit out for a day before I smoked it. I had a bowl of Da Vinci yesterday that burned like a champ.


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

i fully rubbed out this 100g tin and it's been sitting for nearly a month now, still too damn moist.
i'm not a fan of mcclelland broken flakes, they're too big of a pain in the ass to deal with, and this blend is the worse of all worlds. 
when you rub it out, even while moist, you don't get "ribbon", you get "shards" of tobacco, little shards. when they dry up, they don't bend, when they're wet, they don't burn. 

had a half bowl of "fussing and fighting" (great bob marley tune, if you haven't heard it) on the way into work.
flavor is adequate, i'd give it a 6 on a scale of 10.
take away 20 bazillion for ****ing with it, and you've got 6 - 20 bazillion = too much ****ing with it to care to smoke it.

why can't their flakes be more like C&D/GLPease or Rattrays or SG/GH&Co.. y'know, able to be rubbed out and smokeable.
if its part of their "character", well, it's an atribute i dislike very much.


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## CigarGal (Jun 2, 2006)

Well, I left mine outside overnight and I still can't keep it lit. I like the flavor, but tooooo much work.

Tobacco is meant to burn, baby!


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## Silky01 (Jul 16, 2007)

Just finished a bite of steak, a piece of chicken, and a slice of cheesecake, so perfect time to light up a bowl. Tzilt send me a sample of this a week or so ago, and have been anxiously awaiting time to try it. 

I know why dark is in the title now, although it's not shining like a star for me. When I first opened the bag, it had a strong aroma that reminded me of Christmas Cheer 05, having a strong vinegar smell, almost to the point of being nauseating. It's in flake form, and although it's not "goo-y" as others have said, nonetheless, I wasn't able to get it to rub out into anything smaller than chunks. So it was a little difficult packing. It was still a little on the wet side, even after an hour sitting out. It was also hard to keep lit, never getting a generous amount of smoke, even after relighting multiple times. I'm getting some gray ash, admixed with unburnt baccy.

To me, it's not very sweet as I expect from Va leaves, but it does have a vinegar taste to it, much like the smell. Other than that, it's a little bland to me. Like I said, nothing really shining out to me about it (but I'm used to more latakia blends).

I am getting a little throat irritation from it, and slight tongue bite, but nothing significant. 

As I got through the bowl, cleaning it back out, the goop came through, not making it too easy to get out of my meer I'm using.

So thus far, I've not really given much complement to this tobacco, but it's something others may enjoy better than I. Overall, I don't think I'd pick up a tin, but would pass it over for something else.

On a side note, now I get to repay Tzilt.


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## Silky01 (Jul 16, 2007)

On a second side note, looking back through the reviews, I'm glad I see others thinking it has a vinegar taste/smell, gives me confidence that my palate is developing properly!!


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## CigarGal (Jun 2, 2006)

"Just finished a bite of steak, a piece of chicken, and a slice of cheesecake"


Where are your veggies????


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## Silky01 (Jul 16, 2007)

CigarGal said:


> "Just finished a bite of steak, a piece of chicken, and a slice of cheesecake"
> 
> Where are your veggies????


Does tobacco count as a veggie?


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## tzilt (Nov 20, 2007)

I've never really had any problem keeping this one lit. Maybe its a climate thing (Minnesota) or maybe its just variance in packing method or something. Other tobaccos I have to constantly relight, so I don't think I am some sort of fire master or anything. Maybe me and Dark Star just go together like peas and carrots.


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## hollywood (Feb 15, 2005)

Sorry I hadn't got around to doing a review of this. Pretty much forgot about this stuff with all the new stuff that came in this month.

I had set this thing out for an overnight drying; that actually ended up being nearly a week. unlike any other tobacco I've ever had; it was still as moist as most tins upon opening. I too am glas to see I wasn't the only one who thought this stuff was a b*tch to smoke. The aromas are very alluring and make you want it to be a relaxing and wonderful smoke ... it wasn't. Lots of relights and poking and prodding still didn't get me through the whole bowl in an hour.

The flavors were fairly on par with the expectations, but the troubles were probably a big reason I never picked this back up since the first bowl. A let down for me after smelling the freshly popped tin. Too many other goodies to smoke and new stuff to try; to warrant going back to this one.


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## CigarGal (Jun 2, 2006)

tzilt said:


> Maybe me and Dark Star just go together like peas and carrots.


Hmmm, a man who knows his veggies! The flavors of this tobacco were so enticing-such a disappointment that it was so much trouble to smoke.


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## Sawyer (Jul 11, 2007)

After my first attempts at getting this stuff to behave I rubbed out the entire tin in order to let it sit for a bit. A couple weeks went by and I opened the tin back up. This stuff was still too moist. I set out the whole tin on a piece of paper and let it sit overnight. No change in moisture level. I decided what the heck and attempted to smoke another bowl. 

Puffed and puffed to get it to light. Once I got a good light I realized I had to puff too fast to keep it lit right. Started to bite and gurgle. Dumped it. Too much trouble. 

The only marginal success I had smoking this blend was packing a 2/3 bowl and topping that with Old Gowrie. Once the Old Gowrie burned off the Dark Star started out okay and did have a decent flavor. Soon though I started struggling to keep it lit.

Too much trouble in my opinion.


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## CigarGal (Jun 2, 2006)

Is next month the Best Brown? Need to be sure I have the right tobacco.


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## Sawyer (Jul 11, 2007)

CigarGal said:


> Is next month the Best Brown? Need to be sure I have the right tobacco.


It is. I need to finish off at least one tin before cracking my BBF tin. Better get moving.


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## Slow Triathlete (Jun 14, 2007)

I got a Dark Star from Tzilt (along with half the people who reviewed this blend). Thanks man. Mine is a quick review. I set mine out to dry for 4 days. Packed it and tried to smoke it. It still kept going out on me. Didn't smoke it enough to get an opinion but the hassle spoke louder than any enjoyment that I could ever gain from this blend. Tzilt, I'm glad you like it because it means more for you.

My rating: Too much of a pain in the arse!


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## tzilt (Nov 20, 2007)

Slow Triathlete said:


> Tzilt, I'm glad you like it because it means more for you.


Mine! All Mine! Muahahahahahahaah!


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## cigar_040 (Mar 10, 2006)

In process of dry out after reading everything here so far. Got a bowl's worth in the window here @ work with sunlight glaring down. Might even transfer it to the car for a bit.....it's been hot here this week.


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## CigarGal (Jun 2, 2006)

Sounds like you are tanning leather! Hope you have success with the sticky stuff. 

I was wondering if the stuff that stuck to my fingers and stained them would build up in the bowl as well.


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## cigar_040 (Mar 10, 2006)

The window/car drying helped a good bit. Loaded up a bowl in a cob and smoked it while going to get the kids from school.

I had rubbed out the majority of it, cut the rest into small chunks. I was impressed to begin with, it was a very nice smoke...nice aroma and taste. 
After the first 5-10 minutes, the work started. I guess the small chunks that felt dry were still moist to a degree. I couldn't keep it lit. After the 3rd relight, I tossed the remainder of the bowl. I'll dry some more out for a longer period and try again.


Still being new to all this.....it is a good smoke to me !


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